Sermons from First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington Massachusetts

Sunday Sermon given August 6, 2023 Prayer by David Whitford, Worship Associate https://firstparish.info/

First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739

Offering For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients: The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator (http://www.electrifybuildings.org/) and Educate Girls Now (https://educategirlsnow.org/). The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About the Sermon: As First Parish explores its history we are becoming more aware of the people who lived here before Europeans arrived, and also of the people enslaved by the founders of our church. Even though those founders would find our church completely unrecognizable, we are still called to understand how we have been beneficiaries of their decisions. We were not there when the systems that rule our lives were created, but we live every day with the echoes that persist from choices made long before we were born. How might we react to what we learn?

Diane Taraz has been a member of First Parish for decades. She met her husband at coffee hour and they were married in the Sanctuary in 1991! She is a singer-songwriter with a particular interest in historical music, presenting programs that look at various eras through the songs of the time. She created the First Parish timeline. Diane’s new book, “Candace,” is available at Amazon and other outlets. More about her at www.dianetaraz.com.

 

Sunday Sermon given July 30, 2023 Prayer by Danie Descoteaux, Worship Leader https://firstparish.info/

First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739

Offering For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients: The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator (http://www.electrifybuildings.org/) and Educate Girls Now (https://educategirlsnow.org/). The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About the Sermon: When going through something hard, we might find ourselves getting stuck- the way forward isn’t clear, and taking action can seem overwhelming. What clarity emerges when we ask ourselves the question: what does love require? Can a new path emerge when we are curious about what is actually necessary?

Danie Descoteaux is a publisher, a mother, and a former Worship Associate at First Parish. She lives in Maynard.

Sunday Sermon given July 23, 2023

Prayer by Jen Navarro, Worship Leader

https://firstparish.info/

 

First Parish

A liberal religious community, welcoming to all

First gathered 1739

 

Offering

For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients:

The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator

(http://www.electrifybuildings.org/)

and Educate Girls Now

(https://educategirlsnow.org/).

The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish.

To donate using your smartphone, you may text

“fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in

the texts you receive.

About the Sermon: It is tempting to succumb to anger, fear and despair in the current spirit of our times. How can we develop and even embrace a curious attitude to the challenges that face us?

Jen Navarro is a therapist in private practice in Portland, OR. She spent many years at First Parish and was involved with Lay Ministry, Stewardship, Marta’s Installation committee, RE, Pie Palace, Pride Parade and other activities. Although she moved to Oregon in 2014, she will always consider First Parish her spiritual home.

 

Sunday Sermon given July 16, 2023

Prayer by Bill Licia-Kane, Worship Associate

https://firstparish.info/

 

First Parish

A liberal religious community, welcoming to all

First gathered 1739

 

Offering

For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients:

The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator

(http://www.electrifybuildings.org/)

and Educate Girls Now

(https://educategirlsnow.org/).

The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish.

To donate using your smartphone, you may text

“fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in

the texts you receive.

 

About the Sermon: Have you ever watched the show, America’s Got Talent? It’s the show where people come on before a panel of judges and perform. The judges move them to the next round or not. I’ve never really liked those kinds of shows. Every person has talents, and there isn’t a winner. In this service we will look at building community with our talents through the world of Disney’s Encanto! Hold on to your seats!

 

Mary-Beth Landy is a mother of 3 daughters, who were the draw or should I say drag, to bring her to First Parish! Upon entering the doors, she knew she had found her spiritual home! During her 24 years as a member, she has served on various committees and as a Worship Associate for 7 years, and she now serves on the Welcoming Congregation Committee. In her spare time, Mary-Beth is a Trauma and Mental Health Specialist, a wife and the wrangler of 3 dogs and 3 cats!

Sunday Sermon given July 9, 2023 Prayer by Ruben Hopwood, Worship Associate https://firstparish.info/

First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739

Offering For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients: The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator (http://www.electrifybuildings.org/) and Educate Girls Now (https://educategirlsnow.org/). The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About the Sermon: How modern insurance fragments our communities, and how to fix it!

Since the 1990s, Andrew Fischer has studied and written about ways in which insurance interacts with how we live and how it shapes our communities. In 2007 he presented a summer service for First Parish about similarities and contrasts between the functions of insurance groups and religious groups. His perspective and focus is informed by 29 years as an Arlington Town Meeting Member, as co-chair of the Town Meeting Community-based Health Insurance Study Committee, and as owner of Fischer Construction since 1984.

Sunday Sermon given July 2, 2023 Prayer by Loren Gomez, Worship Associate https://firstparish.info/

First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739

Offering For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients: The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator (http://www.electrifybuildings.org/) and Educate Girls Now (https://educategirlsnow.org/). The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About the Sermon: What is radical about sharing food and creating community? Maya Gomez-Coultas considers finding joy and letting our inner child inform our present life.

Maya Gomez-Coultas is a recent university graduate who studied Geography at the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland. She hopes to pursue environmental management or environmental policy as a career. Maya worked as an outdoor educator in New Hampshire last summer and will be returning this summer. She especially enjoys climbing, hiking, reading, traveling, and going to the pub with friends.

Sunday Sermon given June 25, 2023 Prayer by Samantha Rauh, Worship Leader https://firstparish.info/

First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739

Samantha Rauh is a member of the Youth Group at First Parish and will be a junior at Arlington High School in the fall. She was the worship coordinator for the Youth Group during the 2022-23 school year. She enjoys activism, reading, spending time with friends, climbing, and First Parish, which she has attended since she was 8.

Offering For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients: The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator (http://www.electrifybuildings.org/) and Educate Girls Now (https://educategirlsnow.org/). The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About the Sermon: What does it mean to take a break from our usual routines, and why can it be so freeing? Come hear from a Youth Group member about our spring 2023 service trip to Philadelphia and all the people we met, projects we worked on, and experiences we had, all the while considering how important it is for our spiritual health to try new things.

Prayer by Elizabeth Hunter, Worship Associate https://firstparish.info/

Suzanne McLeod retired from work as an Expressive Arts Therapist in 2021 in order to paint full time. Her studio is on Mt Gilboa in Arlington, and she leads artmaking groups at Turtle Studios in Newton.

First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739

Offering For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients: The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator (http://www.electrifybuildings.org/) and Educate Girls Now (https://educategirlsnow.org/). The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About the Sermon: Suzanne McLeod shares recent paintings and thoughts from “The Inner Work of Age, Shifting from Role to Soul” by psychotherapist and writer Connie Zweig as she ponders recurring questions that can greet anyone moving to new stages in life: What is calling me now? What inner shadow-characters and fears are getting get in the way? What am I trying to avoid and ignore at this stage? How can creative work help shed light and clear the way?

 

Sunday Sermon given June 11, 2023 Prayer by Rev. Erica Richmond, Parish Minister https://firstparish.info/

First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739

Offering For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients: The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator (http://www.electrifybuildings.org/) and Educate Girls Now (https://educategirlsnow.org/). The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About the Sermon: Rev. Marta Flanagan, Lead Minister, takes as her sermon theme the living and working of our Director of Religious Education Tina Schultz. Marta will consider what has influenced Tina in her work, and what we learn for the living out of our own lives. This Sunday is Tina’s last Sunday as our Director of Religious Education after 27 years. Tina has shaped a generation of our children and youth, making liberal religious values come alive.

Sunday Sermon given June 4, 2023 Prayer by Rev. Marta Moris Flanagan, Lead Minister https://firstparish.info/

First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739

Offering For the months of June, July and August, half of the offering supports two recipients: The Mass Building Electrification Accelerator (http://www.electrifybuildings.org/) and Educate Girls Now (https://educategirlsnow.org/). The remaining half supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About the Sermon: In a time when so much feels uncertain in our world, it is important for us to remember and to honor the children and youth. At First Parish, we do that by listening to their experiences and insights during our annual Coming of Age worship service. 

After six months of intensive study and reflection with volunteer adult mentors, seven eighth grade youth have crafted credos, or faith statements of belief, which they will share with the congregation.